The Love Within
by IndusLotus2001
Summary: Tea and Kaiba are paired to be together 247 all week at a vacation. At first it's all fights, but then they start to like each other. Full summary inside. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi peoples! It's time for my first Yugi-Oh story! I've always wanted to write one. Okay, so this is a Seto/ Tea fic. Read and REVIEW!!!! **Note: I will not update until I get five reviews atleast. **

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugi-oh, or any of it's characters.

Tea Gardener sighed as she walked to school. It was going to be rough day. There were so many times, even after all of Yugi's duel monsters adventures that Tea had almost lost her friends. So many trips and opportunities. Now they promised nothing would separate the four of them, but Tea still had her doubts.

Today was a day Tea would be separated from her friends at school. There was a special award ceremony to offer special classes, and such to whom the school considered to be the " smart kids." Tea knew she was one of the top scorers in the school, but she hoped with all her heart she would not be chosen. She'd been having nightmares about losing her friends forever. There were so many supernatural events that happened to Yugi, Tea and all their friends, whether the Pharaoh was with them or not. Who knows what could happen? What if one of her nightmares came true, and she really did loose her friends forever? Tea always felt that friendship was most important after the family you live with, but she never believed more than she did right now, at this moment.

It's these kind of thoughts that makes you loose your senses. It was these thoughts that caused Tea not to pay attention to where she was going. A limo, driving with accelerating speed in the opposite direction of her walking was about to hit her! And who should call out to her and save her life but Seto Kaiba?

He saw right away of the girl who wasn't watching where she was going.

" Hey Tea, watch out!" he cried, running to her aid. She snapped to attention and looked to se Kaiba behind her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the road. They stared at each other for an awkward moment. Neither knew what to say.

' What did I just do?' thought Kaiba at the same moment Tea thought, ' Did he just do what I think he did?'

Astonished with himself, Kaiba kept a straight face. Then suddenly, not knowing what else to do, Tea said, " Wasn't that your limo that almost killed me?"

" Maybe it was, and maybe it wasn't," Kaiba answered.

" Well, why aren't you in it?"

" Why should I tell you?"

" Because your driver could've killed me. What part of _kill _don't you understand?" Tea cried.

" Oh I understand perfectly. But let me clear something up. He didn't kill you because I saved you. And you don't even utter a simple thank you! You should be a lot more grateful than that, but you don't even have the decency to give a simple word of thanks for saving your life!" Kaiba said. Although he was angry at her and himself for helping that ungrateful girl, he said it very calmly.

Tea on the other hand was anything but calm. She felt like blowing up at Kaiba for telling her about decency, and she felt embarrassed for not acting like he helped her out big time, which he did. " Oh s sorry," she said.

" You're supposed to be thankful Gardener. I don't need you to apologize," Kaiba said.

" If that's how you want to act then fine! I won't say thank you because I'm not thankful to you!" Tea cried, running away. She got to the school building, and stepped inside as fast as she could. The faster she got to her friends, the more time she got to spend with them.

" Hey guys!" Tea cried, running towards them.

" Hey Tea!" Joey Wheeler called. He was with Yugi Muto, and Tristan Taylor. They were huddled in a corner until she called to them.

" What were you doing in that corner? You looked all bunched together and stuff," Tea said.

" Oh nothing really," Joey answered. " We were just talking."

" What about?"

They all looked at each other nervously. " About how much we miss the Pharaoh," Yugi spoke up.

" Oh. Really?"

" Yeah, why do you ask you royal wiseness," Tristan joked.

" Aw quit it," Tea laughed. She felt a pair of eyes on her and whirled around to see Seto Kaiba staring right at her. ' Oh no, he probably still wants that thank you! He looks mad, and I have to say, as much of a jerk as he is, I was rather rude to him,' Tea thought. ' But I can't face him now!'

" Uh listen guys," she said turning back to her friends. " I gotta go somewhere, but I'll be back. Homeroom lasts longer today so we'll still have time to talk," Tea rushed her words.

" What for?" Tristan asked.

" I lost something in the hallway," Tea said. It was the truth. She was in such a rush that she dropped a book, but thought nothing of it because she wouldn't need her books today anyway.

" We'll help you look," Joey offered.

" Okay, thanks," Tea said weakly. " Lets go, I think it's my math book."

The walked out of the classroom, and her friends searched the hallways. Tea just hoped Kaiba wouldn't come their way.

" Tea, is anything wrong?" Yugi asked while Joey and Tristan looked up at her.

" Oh no, nothing's wrong," Tea lied.

" I know that face. Something's wrong, and you better tell us," Joey said.

" Come on Tea, what's up?" Tristan asked.

" Well okay, but I don't think it's that big. It's actually kind of a small problem," Tea said.

" Just spill already," Joey prompted.

" Okay, well see, I wasn't paying attention this morning and…" Tea told them the whole thing. " And now he's going to be on my case every second to get an apology and a thank you. I really don't want to say thank you or sorry to him. I already said sorry once. It's scary for me you see," she finished.

" This isn't the best time, but you might want a heads up about this," Yugi said. " You better be really careful because Kaiba was invited to that smart kids thing you're going to," Yugi said.

" HE WHAT?!" Tea cried.

" Yeah, he's an overachiever or something like that," Joey added.

" But that's what I AM!" Tea cried.

" You two are probably the only ones then," Tristan said.

" Not helping you know," Tea said flatly.

" Sorry."

" How come you guys know and I don't? Is this really what you were talking about this morning?" Tea asked.

" Actually, yes," Joey said. " I don't think anyone was supposed to find out. We just heard him talking about it to Mokuba."

" You little sneak, you were eavesdropping!" Tea cried. " And I bet Yugi and Tristan were trying to stop you, thinking about what could happen if you go caught!"

" Well, you certainly know us," Yugi responded.

" It was like reading his diary," Joey laughed.

" Diary? OH MY GOD!" Tea cried.

" What? What's wrong?" Yugi cried, alarmed.

" That wasn't my math book I lost. It was _my_ diary! What if someone _found_ it and _read_ it?!"

" Then I guess we better find it and fast," Tristan said.

" Why'd you bring your diary to school anyway?" Joey asked.

" I always bring my diary to school. I don't want to loose it. I mean, what if my house burns down? It's not like my diary can survive fire," Tea answered.

" Like that could happen," Tristan said.

" Yeah, I agree. You have more of a chance of loosing it here at school than in a fire at home," Yugi told her.

" I guess you're right, but I'm a very careful person," Tea said, lowering her eyes. Suddenly, the bell rang, startling them all. Homeroom was over, and the four rushed to homeroom and gathered their stuff.

" See you guys tomorrow," Tea said quietly and ran from the room. She ran all the way to the gym where the ceremony was being held. The principal explained how he would announce what kids achieved especially well in a certain category. They were expected to say a few words, and thank everyone there because they voted certain people to certain things. Only the overall achievers (Tea and Kaiba) were picked by only teachers and no students. They would each receive a certificate and a packet of papers offering classes and other special things that would suit their pleasures, needs, talents, and minds.

" And now, last but not least," the principal said, "Our overachievers are Tea Gardener…" he paused and Tea went up on stage as cheering followed her.

" … and Seto Kaiba!" he finished. Kaiba went in strides hurriedly to the stage looking like he could kill the principal. No one cheered for him. Everyone looked spooked and surprised.

' That's a scary look on someone like him,' Tea thought.

Tea approached the microphone and said, " I'm really glad this opportunity was offered to me and I'm going to try my best to keep up my work."

She stepped aside and Kaiba went to the mike. He said, " All I have to say is nobody better tell anybody I was here."

'That's it? What a loser!' Tea thought. She looked around to see bitter and glaring faces made to Kaiba. He didn't seem to care.

Tea and Kaiba got off stage and Tea looked at the physical activities page. There it was. A scholarship to any dance school she wanted admission in. She had been waiting for something like this for a long time. Now she could finally take her dance to the next level. She herself had to admit she was very good. She wanted to be a dancer ever since she was little. Now finally, she could do it!

" And now we want to explain how our surprise portion of the ceremony works. You will get together with some people or a person and spend your vacation week, next week with them. You will be with them 24/7 to get to know them better. We want a three-page report on how your week was with them. What you learned about them, if you want to take your friendship further, and so on."

Everyone groaned.

'No!' Tea thought. ' This can't be happening! I can't be separated from my friends and spend the day with someone new 24/7! Not at this point in time. Why me?'

" And you will be with the person who shares your award," the principal continued. Tea realized that for her that meant…

KAIBA!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So I got those five reviews I wanted. Here's chapter two!

_In Last Chapter: " And now we want to explain how our surprise portion of the ceremony works. You will get together with some people or a person and spend your vacation week, next week with them. You will be with them 24/7 to get to know them better. We want a three-page report on how your week was with them. What you learned about them, if you want to take your friendship further, and so on."_

_Everyone groaned._

_'No!' Tea thought. ' This can't be happening! I can't be separated from my friends and spend the day with someone new 24/7! Not at this point in time. Why me?'_

_" And you will be with the person who shares your award," the principal continued. Tea realized that for her that meant…_

_KAIBA! _

Tea walked home looking at the road at all times. Today was Wednesday. There were two days until her April Spring Break, and then she would have to spend all of her time with Kaiba. Kaiba of all people! Why couldn't it have been someone else? Three paged essay? Easy! Spending time with Kaiba? Torture in hell! She couldn't do this. She would have a mental breakdown. An emotional breakdown. She would die after seeing him on Saturday. She had to protect herself. ' Come on Tea. Aren't you taking this too far?' she asked herself in her mind. But her mind wasn't in an agreeable mood.

' NO WAY! Spending 24/7 with Kaiba, _Kaiba_ during a break when you need to be with your friends or else who knows what could happen to them? While they could die without you? With _Kaiba_? Someone else I could understand, but _Kaiba_? NO WAY!' her mind told her. She felt weak, so she agreed with her mind.

Kaiba hadn't even looked at her for a split second even thought she walked by him a million times after the ceremony, where there was time for eating and socializing and having fun. She wanted to know what he would say. Now she knew the answer: Nothing. He said nothing!

If only her essay was only a paragraph. She knew what that would say:

**My Horrible Week with Seto Kaiba**

**By: Tea Gardener**

_My week with Seto Kaiba, the other overall overachiever was not fine, fun, great, or even so-so. It was the most horrible thing in the world and I thought I would die. In fact, when you first announced this, I thought I'd rather die, shoot myself dead than spend even a split second with Seto Kaiba! Why? Because Kaiba is the most horrible and cruel person ever! I've been seeing him in my adventures that I must keep secret. Basically, I really will kill myself before I spend even another nanosecond with Seto Kaiba again. I MEAN IT!!!!_

_THE END_

What could she do? She was to be with Kaiba by force and there was nothing she could do about that. Unless she could get Kaiba to help her out and pretend that they were together all week. But would he do it if he knew she needed him to do that to help her out? She had to make it sound like hanging out with her would be an even bigger mistake than he thought it was already. But what if he didn't think it was a mistake? What if she didn't think it was a mistake

' Don't be stupid!' she scolded herself. ' Why wouldn't you?'

THE NEXT DAY

" Hey Tea!" a voice called out to her. It was Yugi. He, Joey, and Tristan were coming up to her. " Hey guys!" she called out. " What's up?"

" Oh you know. The usual. Wishing we didn't have to be in this hell," Joey said.

" It's not that bad," Tea commented. " I like school…a little."

" Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. So what happened at the awards?"

Tea lowered her eyes.

" Okay, what's wrong?" Tristan asked.

" You guys know me too well, that's what," Tea answered smiling. " See the thing is… well its Kaiba."

" Okay, what did old moneybags do this time?" Joey asked angrily. " I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!"

" No Joey, calm down, it's not something he did," Tea said, sighing. She told them the whole story.

" One whole week? 24/7 with no one but Kaiba? WHAT?!" Tristan cried.

" I know, I know. But I've got a plan. Look, I want Kaiba to think hanging out with me is an even bigger mistake than he thinks. I can't try the direct approach because he might figure it out. So I want you guys to pretend_ I'm_ a mistake myself. And that you'd rather die than hang out with me," Tea said.

" Well, we know you're a good actress. But we can't pull that off," Yugi said.

" But you've got to!" Tea cried. " I'm desperate!"

" We could try it," Tristan said.

" Please, would you?" she asked.

" You want us to treat you like garbage?" Yugi asked.

" Yes! At the end of the day we will crowd around near his locker and when he comes around, you start to treat me like crap. Okay?"

" I guess we could do it," Joey said slowly.

" Yeah. For you…and only you," Yugi told her.

" Great. Thank you so much guys," Tea said.

The bell rang and Tea hurried to class. Yugi was in all her class and Tristan and Joey were in two of them. Kaiba was in her last period class, history, and that's when the problems started. For the last twenty minutes of class the teacher let them get into groups of three and play a history game that she made. Tea, Yugi and Kaiba were together because they obviously didn't get to choose their own groups.

The game was a little board game. They'd roll the dice and each square had a question from their current topic, the Civil War. If they answered the question right, they got to stay there. If they got it wrong they went back to start. Tea, Yugi and Kaiba got together. Kaiba and Tea barely said anything. They only spoke when they had to answer a question. Yugi tried to make conversation, ignoring the death glares Tea was giving him. Joey had told him to make them talk, but he didn't know why. He just did what Joey told him to.

" So I hear you won the same award as Tea did Kaiba," Yugi said lamely.

" Yeah, and made this loser speech. You should've seen the stares everyone was giving him," Tea laughed.

" It was better than your sappy one," Kaiba countered.

" My speech was not sappy. Atleast people like me," Tea said.

" What are you saying Gardener?"

" It's meaning is what it sounds like. And I don't know why this is suddenly occurring to me, but how do you know my full name?"

" I've heard it atleast a million times. A million more than needed to," Kaiba answered.

" I never knew you paid any attention," Tea said.

" Do you even know what award you got? Because I got the same one. I must've paid attention to something!"

" Well I certainly didn't know you were smart," Tea said.

" Maybe you should go now Tea. It's your turn," Yugi said nervously.

" Okay." She rolled the dice. " Six! Yes! Let's see, who was the Confederacy's most important general in the first few Civil War battles? Um, Lee?"

" Yeah, but you need the first name," Yugi said.

" I forgot," Tea said sheepishly, moving her piece back.

" And they called you smart?" Kaiba question. He got a five and got the same question.

" It's Robert E. Lee," he said in a bored tone.

" That's right," Yugi said.

" See, I'd beat you any day," Kaiba retorted.

" At what? We weren't even having a contest!" Tea cried.

" Why? Because you're scared of losing to me?"

" Losing what?"

" This game," Kaiba smirked.

" What? You never cared about anything like this before!"

" So how's Mokuba doing?" Yugi asked, interrupting.

" What do you care?" Kaiba asked.

" He cares. What's so horrible about that?" Tea asked

" Nothing. Unless he's trying to get my brother on his side."

" Side? For what?" Tea asked.

" For dueling. If he's trying to get Mokuba to root for him. Not that I would care if I don't have anyone but if it was Mokuba then…"

" Yugi would never try to do something like that!" Tea cried.

" How would you know? They seem like your friend one moment, and the next they don't care at all. They treat you like a piece of shit. Like crap. And they turn your world into a living hell!"

Tea paused for a moment and tried not to make eye contact with him or Yugi. This sounded like Kaiba knew what she was planning! Could he know? No, how could he? Kaiba was late to school this morning. He came in during second period Language arts class. He was in that class with Tea too and he came in with his backpack and a late pass.

There was no way he could've overheard them unless he had spies. That was ridiculous!

" My friends would never abandon me like that!" Tea cried.

" How can you be so sure?"

Now he had gone too far for he had insulted her, Yugi, the rest of her friends and their bond. " Okay, you know what? That's it! My friends would never neglect me or treat me like crap. You got that? Why? Because we're friends and friends are supposed to stay together forever! And another thing. We-"

" Spare me the friendship speech Gardener. You always do that to me. It's so lame. Also, your friends and your friendships are lame too," Kaiba said calmly.

Tea stood up. " That's seriously it!" she cried. " How dare you? _How dare you!_ You can't talk like that about my friendships and bonds like that!" Then she suddenly got violent. She had no idea what had gotten into her, but she grabbed him, stood him up, and pushed him, causing him to bang into the nearest desk. " That was a light injury at this point. And if you ever do it again I swear I'll-" she stopped screaming when she saw everyone was looking at her. The teacher, who was very trusting, and rather shy for a teacher looked _scared_!

Tea wanted to disappear and never come back again. She'd rather die than be in this position. Luckily, the bell rang. No one moved. They weren't going anywhere until Tea made a move, even though it was time to go home. Tea noticed and quickly gathered her stuff and ran out of the room before anyone could say a word. She especially didn't want to face the teacher. She decided to skip the plan she devised with her friends and raced home, hoping no one would see her.

The next day, her last period teacher was at a meeting so there was a substitute. No one confronted her and Yugi didn't bring it up. By then, it had gotten all over the school, but no one mentioned it to anyone else at all.

" Everyday there's a reason I need to avoid Kaiba!" Tea complained. " We have to do our little ' I'm a horrible piece of shit' act today or no day."

" Okay, we'll gather around his locker," Joey said.

Tea and Kaiba sat on opposite sides of the room in both homeroom and history, so she never really had to face him that much.

Finally she and her friends hung around by Kaiba's locker. Tea was look out and stayed alert. Then she saw him appear out of nowhere suddenly. He was walking their way.

" Okay guys, get ready, he's coming," Tea whispered, running to her friends.

They really didn't know what to do, so they just said whatever came to their minds.

" What do you need to talk to me about? And make it quick," Tea said, staring them off.

" Okay Tea, listen," Joey continued as Kaiba came around. He backed up, hoping they didn't see him. Joey made his voice loud so Kaiba couldn't help but overhear.

" We don't think it's good for us to hang out with you anymore. After your violence display yesterday and…"

" And **WHAT** Joey?" Tea asked. She said it with more feeling than she knew she could. She was acting really well because she was imagining it was really happening.

" Well, you've been really caught up on this friendship thing. You know, you're not letting us get any space. And also, don't think we're sexist or anything…" Joey trailed off.

" We don't think it's good for our image to hang out with a girl!" Tristan blurted out.

" WHAT?!" Tea cried angrily. They were all acting really well. So well that for a moment, Tea thought, ' What if they really mean it?' She told herself she was being stupid. Or was she? Tea kept going. " How could you? I thought you were my real friends. Friends I could count on, depend on, and-"

" That's just it. See? You're really taking this friendship thing way too far. And all those speeches and bonds and all your beliefs and stuff. It's just stupid," Joey said.

" But you guys believed in al of that!" Tea cried incredulously.

" We hoped you'd come to you senses," Yugi said, which must've been the meanest thing he'd ever said, even though he was acting.

" What? You guys…you…" Tea couldn't find the words.

" You're a piece of crap Tea, to put it simply," Joey said. " We hoped it wouldn't have t turn out this way, but you didn't make it any easier for us. You're not worthy enough to be a person for many reasons. It's what we do, always did, and always will think of you." Tea sank down on the floor and started to cry. T sounded so real that the guys almost lost their parts, but regained control son enough.

" Stop being a baby," Tristan said.

" That's all we have t say. That's all we can say, Yugi finished up. The three of them stormed off.

Tea stayed on the floor sobbing. The three of them looked back and winked. She winked back, and walked away in a different direction, still pretending she was crying.

Kaiba was listening in on all of this. And did he think she was shit and that he should just pretend to do the essay? He did. He was going to say they should pretend. But now? No!

' Boy, I can't believe what just happened. Maybe Yugi took what I said yesterday seriously. Does that mean her misery is my fault?' Kaiba asked himself. ' Yes it does. I can't believe I'm about to say this to myself but I can't live with myself like this. I really feel sorry for her. I'm going to hang out with her because she really does need a friend.'

OMG! Kaiba feels sorry for Tea? Oh no! Keep reviewing!


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